This has kicked off again this week with a complaint from a new Auckland councillor, Bo Burns, that Auckland Council is so dysfunctional she has packed up and walked out of meetings twice because of behaviour she considered unacceptable. Then, the Herald dropped a much bigger piece expanding on all of this, featuring the accounts of multiple councillors who also complain and who then hone in on the mayor in particular.
Mike Lee says the mayor revels in put-downs and insults and pulled him off the Auckland Transport board as punishment because he voted against him on something. John Watson says the mayor is a narcissist. Lotu Fuli says the mayor drops the f-bomb all the time. And on and on the complaining goes.
Now, look, I’m not completely hard-hearted. I have some sympathy for these people because I don’t think I’d like to work in a place where I got punished for taking an opposing view. The mayor is not an easy bloke to work with and I thank the Lord every single day that I don’t have to work with him.
But I also don’t have sympathy for them because this is not a normal workplace—it’s a council. It’s supposed to be robust. And Bo Burns should probably reconsider whether she thinks ratepayers will feel they’re getting bang for their buck if they’ve elected someone who isn’t robust enough to hack it at the big boys’ table.
As for Wayne Brown, claiming he’s a bully is not going to hurt him, is it? Because it’s not a shock to anyone. This is the guy who called the media “drongos” and barely apologised for it. This is the guy who emailed the Ratepayers’ Alliance with two words: “f*** off.” Have you ever met him? The fact that he swears is not a surprise.
What probably hurts him more, I would say, is that he hiked rates in the city by 7.9% this year. But finding out he’s a bit mean to people and swears a lot? Not news.
What would be news is if everyone around the Auckland Council table grew a pair and stopped complaining about him.
Heather du Plessis-Allan is a journalist and radio broadcaster who hosts Newstalk ZB's weekday Drive-Time Show – where this article was sourced.
7 comments:
Is it a coincidence that the councillors that complain are the same who disagreed and then lost on the matter of rate raise in Auckland? The same rate raise influenced by the need to operate the city rail link, which some of the complaining councillors championed as a “historic step forward” together with Len Brown?
Oh Du Plessis. Here we go again. Anyone in NZ who has their own independent opinion, who's different, who's not one of "the group", who can't stand folks like Jacinda's "team of five million", who doesn't play along, is vilified, including by people like you. You want people to like you, to be a B list celebrity, to voice your views on economics & politics even when you dont know. I agree with Wayne Brown. In my experience he was right to call the NZ media "drongos”. Youre angry he "barely apologised for it". Why should he apologize to you? Because otherwise you will make him look bad on your show? You're the bully, not Wayne Brown.
Oi MacCulloch, don’t shoot the messenger.
It sounds like Bo Burns is a little princess who pouts like a baby every time she gets her feelings hurt.
If you can’t handle it, just quit, Bo. You’re not going to make a difference or represent your constituents if you’re not in the room.
It’s time to grow up.
Wayne, darling, is an engineer - nuff said. No social insight at all....
Wayne Brown was thought to be on the side of conservative right, definitely in 2022 voters thought that after wanting change from literally decades of left mayors and anti car social justice leftist councils but voters were wrong. Brown is simply a foul mouthed extremely egotistical leftist himself. That the imbecile Phil Twyford and the Heralds Simon Wilson love him says everything.
Key committees are overseen by extreme woke councillors, hand picked by Brown with all the usual boxes ticked like climate paranoia, social justice causes, anti car, anti commerce. And that side of wokeist politics, its politicians also live by the "ends justifies the means" mantra. If you don't agree with them you are against them and therefore you must be expunged. Its hateful, cruel and destructive, all of which leads to absurd outcomes and dysfunction.
Brown leads that kind of narcissistic grouping perfectly. I want Brown to "butt out" of my life but he has a God complex and wants more and more of my money for his council to waste on their favourites like buses, trains, ferries, bike lanes, anti car infrastructure and practically everything we don't need. But he is not the Dear Leader, he answers to the government like the rest of us, not the other way around.
I think Brown is a problem and his council of woke like-minded councillor supporters are too. But until voters wake up, were are stuck with these big spending idiots running rough shod over Auckland.
Wayne Brown a bully? Well...fancy that. He's always been a straight-shooter, telling people what he thinks of them, using ripe language. Business as usual.
Other Councillors need to fight fire with fire, so to speak. Speak to him as he speaks to them. Have a cogent argument to present, not some waffle, as I've often heard from Councillors. Especially, don't witter on about bullying: doing that just makes people sound petulant.
The thing I find surprising about him is that he apparently doesn't see anything wrong with having unelected people on Councils and having voting rights: often remuneration rights as well.
This is outright undemocratic and I'd expect Brown to be fully aware of it.
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